Owing to incessant deflationary trends, price rise based on wholesale price index (WPI) came down to a record (-) 2.06 per cent in February, thus keeping inflation in the negative zone for the fourth straight month.
The negative trend was on account of cheaper food, fuel and manufacturing products, raising industry clamour for further cuts in interest rate.
Inflation measured on WPI was at (-)0.39 per cent in January, (-)0.50 per cent in December and (-)0.17 per cent in November. It was 5.03 per cent in February 2014.
With inflation dropping to record lows, industry demanded further easing of interest rates to boost industrial growth.
Experts cautioned, however, that unseasonal rains this month could be a dampener and the decline in food inflation may be short-lived, prompting the Reserve Bank to avoid lowering rates immediately.
As per official data released on Monday, inflation in food articles category stood at 7.74 per cent, and the in manufactured products category, it was 0.33 per cent.
Fuel and power inflation saw significant cooling at (-)14.72 per cent in February.
In the food basket, while inflation in onions, pulses and protein-rich items like egg, meat and fish inched upwards, vegetables, fruits and milk saw the rate of price rise decline during the month.